From DC to Jerusalem

I have returned to my blog here to discuss the various news items emanating from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s impending visit to the United States to take part in the United Nations General Assembly. Ahmadinejad requested permission to lay a wreath at Ground Zero and has been scheduled to speak at Columbia University this coming Monday. Although I fully understand and appreciate these sentiments, the burden of living in a free society dictates that we must respect speech, no matter how horrible its vehicle.

The NYPD’s decision to bar Ahmadinejad from Ground Zero makes logistical sense if nothing else. As one of the world’s largest hatemongers and as the president of the worst state sponsor of terrorism, Ahmadinejad’s presence at the World Trade Center site could easily provoke a riot and endanger his safety.

The hysteria surrounding Ahmadinejad’s speech at Columbia University is just ridiculous. The man stands for almost everything I am against, but he should be allowed to speak to an informed American audience. The suppression of objectionable speech is wrong – so long as that speech doesn’t incite violence or other critical thresholds. Instead, it should be met with debate. Columbia’s president should be applauded, not slandered, for his insistence that Ahmadinejad split his time evenly between speaking and answering questions. This is precisely the type of freedom we are trying to export around the world; what type of example would we be setting if we did not permit people like Ahmadinejad from speaking.

This whole incident brings up the recent tussle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton about speaking to foreign dictators. Obama has it 100-percent correct – we should not be afraid of losing a so-called propaganda war with a genocidal, Holocaust-denying, freedom suppressing despot from one of the most despicable regimes in the world. The American ideal is a shining example to the world and on our merits, we win against people like Ahmadinejad every time.

America is the greatest country in the world precisely because we allow people like Ahmadinejad to speak, no matter how hard we disagree with him. Now, I only wish I could be there to see it.